I employed some aggression and turned a full house.
Quads seemed unlikely for villain but he kept on calling...
Could he have TT+?
I just took the risk and kept betting into him.
Was the risk justifiable?

I have been kind of torn about this hand. I thought about it today while I was working. There seems to be several kind of marginal spots in the hand, but they can mostly be justified one way or another, e.g., it's unlikely they have quads because quads are rare.

Pre-flop I don't like flat calling much from the SB, but you are getting a great price and you can expect that the BB will call along to make the price even better, but your hand doesn't really flop very well, and you will be first to act post flop. I think I would rather have A3s so I could at least have some straights that use both of my cards. You could try a big squeeze to like 25 cents or something, but I think I would just fold it pre. It's really not that great of a situation I think.

On the flop we have a hand that has some showdown value, but there are four other guys in the hand. When there are so many in the pot that makes the chances of someone actually having a Q a lot higher. Leading into four players with this hand is almost like making it into a bluff. This hand would be so much easier to play if we were in late position instead of first to act post flop. When you get called you are either way ahead or way behind.

When you get that turn card, then I agree that it's unlikely that you are behind. I doubt that he just calls pre-flop with TT+, but maybe, I don't have any stats to know how passive the guy is. It is unlikely that he made quads, but the thing is that people DO make quads sometimes, lol. What kind of hands are more likely for him to have? Maybe ace high? You have one though so that's less likely. Maybe a smaller sized pocket pair that was set mining, but just didn't believe you would lead the flop with a Q? Now that things have run out this way I don't mind betting for value from his likely hands like small pairs.

On the river, now that we have gotten here this way, I think that it's better to either shove it all in or check and hope that he shoves with that small pocket pair thinking "Hah! I knew that he didn't have a Q!". The half pot bet looks like it's looking for value so I think it makes it easier for him to fold worse, and would you ever fold if he shoved over that bet when he really does have quads or TT+? I think if he's calling half pot there with worse, then he would be calling your shove too.

Thanks T!
I'm glad you have been torn by this, because this strengthens my feeling that this was a tough spot.
Post-flop, I think that if it's an edgy situation I'd rather err on the side of aggression, because poker is a game of aggression.

Why would I ever want to 3bet with a speculative hand?
With UTG+1 raise and one caller in front of me? They both probably have strong hands (+ the BB might hold a monster) and there's already money in the pot so I just want a chance to draw to the nut flush.

Why would I ever want to 3bet with a speculative hand?
With UTG+1 raise and one caller in front of me? They both probably have strong hands (+ the BB might hold a monster) and there's already money in the pot so I just want a chance to draw to the nut flush.

To squeeze there would be as a bluff to try to take it down pre-flop. We are OOP and our hand is not a good speculative hand. We are really only hoping for a flush, or maybe two nines on the board, and these things don't happen often enough. I wouldn't try the squeeze unless I had some good reads on the UTG+1 player that tell me they might fold. We actually have two other callers before action gets to us pre-flop, but I think that they are both more likely to not have very strong hands because they both just flat called.

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